Death Takes a Holiday
by Kitty the drunken butterfly
Summary: Chapter 2, Chapter 1 revised 7,6,06. Jonathan, Mark and an old friend of Jonathan's help an old man. Better summary to come.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Jonathan Smith and Mark Gordon belong to Michael Landon. (Man, that is cool to say.) Anything else that you recognize is his as well.

**A/N:** I don't really have much to say about this story so far. I'm working on Chapter three now and I will update when I can. I just started back to college so I'm not sure how busy I will be in the following months. If you like this so far, let me know. If somebody out there enjoys it, I'll update it a lot quicker.

**Death Takes a Holiday**

"So where are we going next?" Mark Gordon asked as they drove down a sunlit highway. He wasn't sure where they were but it didn't really matter anyway. They would find whatever it was they were looking for. He had been traveling with his friend, Jonathan, an angel, for a few years and no matter where they were, The Boss would always find them.

"I don't know," Jonathan replied. Sometimes he didn't know what their assignment was until it was right in front of him. It didn't frustrate him as much as it bothered Mark but Jonathan had the patience that of an angel that Mark didn't have.

"Well, when are you going to know?" Mark asked him impatiently.

"I don't know. He'll let me know when he's ready," the angel replied in exasperation.

"Can you tell him to hurry up?" Mark told Jonathan.

The angel sighed and rolled his eyes. "It doesn't work that way, Mark. You know that."

Mark grumbled as they drove along. "Wish it did," he replied, hoping that his car wouldn't stall or that he would get a flat on this desolate road. He could remember numerous times that God would get mad at him for doubting what was planned.

They continued to drive quietly along while they came upon a quick turn on the desolate highway. Strange enough, a woman walked along on the left side of the empty road. There hadn't been a car in sight for miles on the bare highway and any sign of car trouble would have been quickly noticed by the pair. Jonathan caught sight of the young woman first and did a double take in her direction before Mark sped right past her. Before they had gone no more than fifty feet, the white Cadillac jolted to a halt.

The two passengers were pulled back against their seatbelts and as they gathered their bearings, Mark looked over at the angel in annoyance. "Thanks Jonathan. Could you please remember not to do that next time?" Mark has lost track of how many times Jonathan had stopped or moved the car without his consent. "Next time could you just ask me to stop, please?"

Jonathan looked at him as shocked as his friend was. "I'm sorry, Mark. I didn't do it this time," he said innocently. "She did."

"Who did?" Mark Gordon asked in confusion.

"She did. Death," the angel replied seriously.

"Death? What is this some kind of joke? You're an angel. Don't you take care of that?" Mark asked as the woman from the side of the road made her way up to Mark's window like a cop waiting to give out a ticket. Finding that she now had a moment to speak, she leaned into Mark's car. "I take care of the business end," she told him with a smile.

He jumped at the sound of her voice as he grabbed his Oakland baseball cap in fright. "Watch it lady, you nearly gave me a heart attack."  
She patted his shoulder with a grin. "Not you're time," Death told him. "Besides, you won't be having a heart attack."

He was flustered by that "I what?" he asked with wide eyes.

The woman's brown hair was cut short below her ears and looked a bit too perfect for someone who was stranded in the middle of nowhere. She looked quite young but as Mark studied her blue eyes it seemed as if the woman was much older than she seemed. Death's appearance did not matter for to fit in, it would shift shape into whatever it pleased. For some reason or another, it had chosen to become a woman of nearly thirty. Her clothes were made of denim, the pants a shade lighter than the light blue jacket that she wore over a pale pink shirt.

"Hey, what are you doing here, anyways?" Jonathan asked as he leaned over his seat towards her.

"Didn't the Boss tell you?" she asked in response.

He frowned as he shook his head. "Only to tell me that you were here."

"I'm out on a little vacation time for good behavior," she told him with a wink. "I came to see that old man that's always cheating me," Death replied as she looked down the barren highway.

"Ah, old man Haskett?" Jonathan asked.

She nodded at him. "That's the one."

Mark was a bit confused as he looked between Jonathan and the woman at his window. "Wait a minute. You're Death. The thing that kills everybody. Why are you on a holiday? How does this work? And if you just touched me, why am I not dead?"

Death looked somewhat hurt at his remark. "I don't kill people, Mark. I'm just in their inevitable future. Why can't I take a break like everyone else? And you're not dead because you're not supposed to be. I can touch you if I want, I just can't take your soul yet."

"But you're Death. No one holds that job," Mark argued with the woman.

She shrugged. "That doesn't mean I can't take a holiday. The office is under control. If they need me they know how to get me. Besides, most holidays I usually end up on a job anyways," Death told him plainly.

Jonathan smiled. Death did have a way with things even if some of them were beyond its control. "Well, can we drop you anywhere? You need a ride to the Hasketts?"

The woman nodded at him. "I'd appreciate that, Jonathan."

Mark shook his head as she got in the backseat of his car. "I really can't believe this. I really can't."

"What can't you believe, Mark?" the angel asked as he read his friend's mind. "That Death is sitting in the backseat of your car?"

"And that it's a woman, Jonathan. I hadn't finished my thought yet. If you're going to read my thoughts, get them right," Mark told him dryly as he started down the road again.

"I can be whatever I want, Mr. Gordon," Death replied as she leaned back in the backseat of Mark's car.

"Yeah, well...Miss...Death. Say, what are we suppose to call you anyways?" He asked her as they came upon the outskirts of a town. "We can't go around calling you 'Death' all the time. I mean, I don't really mind but what are people going to say?"

"Mark's right," Jonathan commented, looking back at the woman. "Have you thought of a name?"

The woman closed her eyes for a moment as she thought. "I do not know," she replied slowly.

"How about something like Jane or Mary?" Mark tried.

"Eve," Death told them.

"What?" he asked. "Why Eve?"

"She was the first woman who died." The woman told them calmly as she opened her eyes to look at the road ahead of them.

"What about a last name?" Jonathan commented. "You might need to come up with one of those as well."

"Reagan," Eve replied quickly. "The last person who died. Car accident. Drunk driver," she told them as they came upon a fresh accident scene.

The car was smashed into a tree that had crushed the front of the car with so much force that it was impossible for there to be any survivors. In the distance, Mark could see an ambulance quickly coming upon the scene. Mark swerved as it threw him off balance. She or it seemed quite matter of fact about the whole matter. In a way, death itself was a matter of fact business.

Eve stared out the window intently as she saw the soul of the man being pulled towards her body. Reaching out towards the glass of the window, Death connected with the fingers of the man and absorbed him into her skin as if her hand was like a small vacuum. Closing her eyes, she could feel ever memory of the man's life wash upon her as she sent him away to be sorted back at her office.

"So who's this Haskett character?" Mark asked, changing the subject as quickly as he could.

"An old poker buddy that I've know since that second war everyone talks about. Met him over in Germany during an air raid. By rights, he should have joined those that died over there as well. He's been cheating me ever since then. First his own death and now at cards," Eve explained to them as she turned to watch the ambulance come upon the crash scene.

"So you're not gonna take him this time?" Mark asked.

"No, 'course not. Unless Jonathan's got some news that I didn't," Death replied as she looked towards the angel. He looked as if he was listening to something as his eyes seemed to stare right through the ceiling of the white car.

"I'm not sure," Jonathan replied slowly. "He hasn't said anything about it. Haskett was a name he mentioned though. He was being pretty vague about the whole thing."

Eve nodded. "I understand. He can be like that sometimes. Guess it looks like you'll have to tag along with me for a while, boys," she told them as they came into a small suburban town. "You're going to have to turn on the next road, Mr. Gordon. Third house on the right."

"So, how have you been?" Jonathan asked the woman whom they now called 'Eve' as he changed the subject. "It's been a long time since I've seen you last."  
"Ah, yes," She replied. "I've been, well, I've been Death. Mortal things don't really affect me. Although one of the last worldly mortals that came into my office made me quite sad. She was one of those magician's helpers. Poor thing was cut right in half. Apparently, he wasn't that much of a magician."

"Do you get people like that very often?" Mark asked, somewhat chilled by the subject.

"Oh, rarely, rarely. It does break up the monotony," Death replied with a sigh.

"Don't tell me you're getting tired of it?" Jonathan asked worriedly.

"Of course I am! I've been doing this for centuries. Of course I'm tired of it. I had a little fun back in the day with the Black Plague but that was ages ago. Everyone's afraid of me, no one really likes me. That's why I'm taking this vacation," Eve replied, suddenly getting quite depressed.

"Does the Boss know?" Mark asked her curiously.

"Of course. He's my Boss in a way as well. No one thinks I have any feelings but all the humans coming into my office, sad or sometime happy, it all kinda gets to me after a while," Eve replied sadly.

"Well, I can understand that. I got kinda tired of seeing these people I couldn't help or that didn't want any help to begin with when I was a cop. Makes you feel kind of useless when you don't think you can help them," Mark told her as he turned down the road Eve had mentioned.

She nodded. "They don't want me to help either. Some of them even tell me it's my fault. They think they're going to live forever but they won't. Then because the Boss decided that they have to die sometime, they come and complain to me," she sighed. "I'm lucky I don't have an inferiority complex."

Jonathan smiled at that. Death with an inferiority complex, now that would be interesting. Without Death the world would get filled up with so many people that there wouldn't be enough room or food for any of them. As a matter of fact, there were already humans without food or places to stay but Jonathan couldn't tell her to work overtime. Death, or Eve, was already stressed as it was. If he told her to work faster there was no telling what she would do. Death was quite a powerful force.

"Oh. Good. He's home," Eve said happily as Mark pulled into the driveway of Joseph Haskett's home.

"Does he go away much?" Mark asked as he turned off his car.

"Only when his daughter comes to take him. That's become less frequent over the years though," Eve told them before getting out of the backseat of the car.

Mark looked over at Jonathan curiously. "Is this our assignment?"

"Mark, I don't know yet," Jonathan replied in exasperation.

"Well, let me know when you do. I like to know when my vacation ends and my work begins."

Jonathan smiled as he opened the passenger door of Mark's LTD. "Just enjoy it for now," he said before stepping out of the car. He had a feeling that he was going to know what he had to do very soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Jonathan Smith and Mark Gordon belong to Michael Landon. Hehe. Eve and Joe are mine.

**A/N:** I know I haven't updated in ages. It's been slow going. I've just started on Chapter 7 a little while ago. Hopefully now that I'm out of school for the summer, I can get more chapters up. Anyway, enjoy. Also, if you have a livejournal account, you can get my stories syndicated to your friends page. The account name is ffkittythedb. And now, onto the story.

**Chapter 2**

"Hello there, old man. What have you been up to since I left?" Eve asked with a smile as she approached the wrinkled old man who sat rocking on his porch.

Age had shriveled old man Haskett, the wrinkles on his face only indicating the many memories he had left of the past. His salt and pepper hair was thinning and his body was looking much smaller than the well built frame he always had. Eve's words made his brown eyes grow curious before he recognized her for what she really was.

"Well, well. Look who's come back to give me a hard time. You ready for another beating?" Joe asked, pointed a wrinkled finger at her.

She laughed. "I suppose I'm ready for you to cheat again if that's what you're asking, old man."

Joe Haskett harrumphed at that and peered around her to see who she had brought with her. "Who's that? Your reinforcement?"

Eve shook her head at the old man. "Just an old pal of mine and his friend, Joe. I'd like you to meet Jonathan and Mark."

"How do you do, Mr. Haskett?" Jonathan said as he came up the porch step to shake the old man's hand.

"Fine, fine." Joe replied, shaking the angel's hand with quite a strong grip. Joe held onto Jonathan's hand a bit longer as he looked up at him thoughtfully. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

"Yes, he is, Joe," Death responded for the confused angel.

"I knew it," Joe replied as he released Jonathan's hand. "You've come at last to take me to my dear departed Mary. Well, how do you like that? I haven't seen you in fifteen years and when I do, you come to take me back. I'm not going, you hear me? Why you'd have to hog tie me and wrestle me down, you old thief."

"Joe!" Eve exclaimed at the old man's outburst. "Joe, will you calm down. We're not here to take you away. At least, I hope not. You see, I needed some way to get here and Jonathan and Mark were just passing by so they gave me a lift."

Old Haskett looked from her to the angel before declaring his thoughts on the issue. "I don't buy it. You keep talking about two people. I only see one. You use to be a very good liar, now you're becoming pitiful."

Eve looked behind her to Jonathan who was confused as to what the old man was getting at as well. As Death's eyes looked beyond the porch, they settled upon the car and the man who was wrestling with it. Jonathan had noticed him by this time as well and was trying hard not to laugh.

"Hey Mark, Having a little trouble?" Jonathan called out to his friend good-naturedly.

Mark Gordon stopped tugging on his jacket that was stuck in the door before looking over at the angel in exasperation. "No, of course not. The keys are locked in the car and I'm stuck to the car. Why would I be having any trouble?"

Eve bit her lip in laughter. "I'm terribly sorry, Mark. Locking everything is a habit of mine," she shouted to him. "See if it works now."

Mark pulled on the door handle once more in annoyance and was glad when he found it to finally be open. After freeing himself, he was about to close the door again before reaching over and taking the keys from the ignition. Shutting the door in satisfaction, he finally made his way up the sidewalk to Joe Haskett's house.

"Joe, this is Mark," Eve said introducing him to the old man.

"I stand corrected," Joe said. "I take it this one's not an angel," he said to his friend in a softer voice.

"No. Ex-cop. Nice to meet you," Mark replied as well-mannered as he could without losing his temper.

"Well, would you like to come in, since this is going to be a social visit?" the old man asked.

"Of course not, Joe. I think they'd like to stay out side," Eve replied sarcastically.

"Shut up, you," Joe Haskett replied as he stood slowly up and ushered them toward his screen door.

Eve grinned in amusement. Who said Death had to be serious all the time? There was no law that said that. In fact, it had quite a strange sense of humor. There was no way that it couldn't have one with the business that she was in.

"Mr. Haskett, how did you know that I was an angel?" Jonathan asked as the old man led them into his house.

"When you've know this character as long as I have," Joe said jolting his thumb in Eve's direction, "You get a sense about these things."

"You're Joe Haskett?" Mark asked in surprise. "The Joe Haskett?"

"The one and the same," Joe replied as he led them into his softly carpeted living room.

"Wow, you know you really made a difference in a lot of the cops I worked with. We felt as if some of the work we did wasn't in vain. I think hearing about you helped a lot of them through tough times." Mark told him in awe.

"Glad to hear my thirty-five years wasn't in vain," Joe Haskett said with a wistful smile. Everyone always remember him for the work he had done with the police force but mostly, Joe remembered the work he had done years ago in the army. Many of those faces had never left his mind.

"Now, who is it you are this time, you little thief?" Joe asked Death as he motioned his guests to sit down in on his couch. "Take it you're not Jim, Patrick, Michael or Virginia this time."

She smirked. "The name's Eve Reagan."

Joe harrumphed at that. "Eve, huh? And what's your plan of business this time, Ms. Reagan?"

"Poker of course," Eve replied as she took as seat across from him.

"Poker," Joe echoed in reply. "Poker, she says, Jonathan. Does He know about this gambling vice this fine creature has seemed to have developed?" he asked.

The angel couldn't help but smile. "Oh, He knows."

"How do you think some people die, Joe? They take a gamble. Maybe I've seen too many of them come into my office and I've developed that fault as well," Eve added.

"I'm surprised I haven't ended with a permanent visit to see you with all the gambles I've taken in my life," Joe replied as he produced a deck of cards from his shirt pocket.

Joe smiled and looked like he was about to say more but the words didn't make it out. Clutching his side strangely, the cards in his hand slipped to the ground as he began to lean forward and then fell towards the floor.

"Joe!" Death yelped, grabbing his just before he fell. "This isn't suppose to happen," she said as her old friend gazed up at her. "Hang on, Joe. You're not suppose to die yet."

"I'll call an ambulance," Jonathan told them before quickly leaving the room. He had know something was going to happen to Joe as soon as he met him. Jonathan hadn't wanted to, nor did he have time to tell either Eve or Mark. Death had not known that he was to have a stroke for its business was only to care for them after they had died, not during their life as it was for certain angels.

Mark had heard the angel say he would call for an ambulance but his eyes had been upon Joe and Eve, frightened at what had just taken place. He knew that she hadn't known that Joe would have been on the floor of his home. Death had only wanted to take a holiday from its normal activities for a short vacation. What a vacation Eve was having so far.

Knowing that there was nothing that Mark could do, he decided to leave the room as well to give Eve and Joe some time alone. Finding Jonathan on the phone, Mark waited patiently. A moment later, when the angel hung up, he started interrogating him.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" the ex-cop asked, annoyed at his best friend.

"Yeah, I knew," Jonathan replied somberly. "I knew as soon as I shook his hand."

"What happened to him?" Mark asked, more worried than angry.

"He's had a stroke. The ambulance is on its way."

Mark shook his head. "Imagine if we hadn't been here. What would have happened to him?"

"He would have probably died," the angel told him calmly.

Mark shook his head. "I can't believe it. What a day," he said, before he was silent for a moment. "So this is it then? This is our assignment?"

Jonathan nodded. "Part of it."

He looked at the angel curiously. "I'll tell you later," the angel replied before he began to leave the room. "I'm going to check on Eve and Joe. The ambulance will be here in a few minutes."

Mark watched his friend for a moment as he went back into the living room as he shook his head. "Sometimes, he really leaves me hanging," he said, hearing the faint sound of an ambulance in the distance.


End file.
